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Black History Month & Recommended Resources

February is Black History Month. Last Sunday morning I read over some reasons, written on Meridian Hill DC pastor Duke Kwon’s social media post, why we ought to intentionally observe and celebrate Black History Month at Redemption Church. 

  1. To deepen fellowship with our black Christian sisters/brothers by honoring their family stories, learning about the historical and cultural contexts that shape who they are.

  2. To cultivate cross-cultural skills in order to love our black local neighbors more genuinely and more effectively; after all, we cannot love our neighbors well without knowing their stories and without sharing a “common memory” of the past.

  3. To learn more of the all too neglected history of the Black Church, recognizing that Black Church History is Church History.

  4. To model the gospel ethic of mutuality/interdependency by esteeming a subdominant culture—historically, one devalued/subjugated even in/by the Church—celebrating its people and achievements and witnessing its vast potential to fortify the ministry and mission of the Church.

  5. To grow in repentance for corporate sins committed against Black people, often in the name of Christ—sins past and present, of commission and omission—as a necessary step toward true reconciliation and interethnic unity in the Church.

I would add, for Redemption Church, that as we are praying to be a diverse community of believers representative of our community, celebrating and observing Black History Month intentionally is a practical step, however small, in that direction.

Therefore we are doing a couple of things this month with intention. 

First, we have asked a couple of our African-American friends to join us in continuing to preach through the book of Acts. We highly value their voice and perspective, and we want to deepen our fellowship with them. Here is a quick introduction:

  • John Farmer will join us this Sunday, February 11th. John is a pastoral intern at First Presbyterian Augusta, and he is the Paine College Director for Campus Outreach. John and I have been meeting to pray together regularly for several weeks, and he has become a friend and a real blessing to me personally. 
  • Dante Stewart will be with us on Sunday, February 25th. He is a student at Reformed Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Jasamine, live in Augusta, Georgia, where he teaches Bible at Heritage Academy Augusta. They are members of Crawford Avenue Baptist Church. Dante is a great writer, and he has published several articles – many are recommended below.

Secondly, I want to encourage you to spend some time utilizing a few suggested resources – books, articles, media – to learn about Black History and racial divisions in our culture in order to cultivate your ability to empathize, repent, and love cross-culturally.

There are certainly many more great resources out there, but here are just a hand full of suggestions from myself and others.

Books

Divided By Faith – By Michael Emerson And Christian Smith

United – By Trillia Newbell

God’s Very Good Idea – By Trillia Newbell And Catalina Echeverri

The Genesis Of Liberation – By Emerson Powery And Rodney Sadler

Free At Last? – By Carl Ellis

White Awake – By Daniel Hill And Brenda Salter McNeil

Articles

The Witness: A Black Chrisitan Collective “engages issues of religion, race, justice, and culture from a biblical perspective.” There are several resources there worth checking out. Here are a couple by our friend Dante Stewart:

Dante has also been published at The Gospel Coalition:

Monét Robinson, also one of Augusta’s own, recently had this excellent article published at Radical.net:

The C&MA posted an old Alliance Life article honoring several African-Americans who “played a significant role in early Alliance history”:

One of the most stirring articles I read last year was written by D.L. Mayfield at Christianity Today:

Media

If you’re more into listening than reading, here are a couple of good podcast recommendations:

Lastly, I recently attended an Acts 29 & Carolina Greenhouse sponsored event called Race, The Church, and The Gospel. Antony Frederick shared a “plea to my brothers and sisters in the faith that lead predominantly white Christian churches, denominations, networks, etc to pursue racial harmony on a “macro” level, with your African-American brothers and sisters.” You can watch the video here: 

 

 

 

 

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United? We Pray

This post was previously published at humblebeast.com and is reposted here with permission from the author.  

 

United? We Pray is a new podcast that calls for prayer about racial divisions in churches. I (Isaac Adams) have the joy of hosting the first season with my sister, Trillia Newbell, who spoke at Humble Beast’s 2017 conference, Canvas. On the podcast, we won’t just be talking about prayer, we’ll actually be praying. Given all that could be said about race and the church, why start a podcast about prayer? Here are four reasons.

1. The Bible Commands prayer.

The last few years, decades, and centuries make clear that trials and complexities of race and racism often exceed our own wisdom and strength. God has limitless wisdom and strength, but we don’t. Yet in the Bible, when people realized their limitations, they often did something—they prayed. They prayed to the God who commands his children to cast their anxieties upon him because he cares for them (1 Pet. 5:7); the God who says “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask” (James 1:5).

The mandate throughout the Scriptures is clear: God’s people are to be a praying people. We must do more than pray if we are to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, but we cannot do less. The reality is that the unity of the church is no light matter. Satan has been after it since day one, and the early church in Acts 6 shows us this much—there we find an ethnic conflict threatening to divide the church. That division matters because Jesus said that the church’s unity would testify to his coming (John 13:35; 17:21). In short, the church has an adversary who hates its unity (Eph. 6:12). Christians war against him and his kingdom on our knees.

And so we pray.

2. Church history commends prayer.

Prayer is not a new thing. If you look throughout church history, you’ll find that the saints prayed. I’ll pick one example from history that inspired this podcast. In 1898, Francis Grimke, a black pastor in Washington D.C. preached a sermon called, “God and Prayer as Factors in the Struggle.” In this sermon, Grimke called the believers of his day to pray because “It is a serious matter for a nation when any body of people, however few, betake themselves not to revolt but to prayer.”

When we pray to God about matters of race, unity, and the church, we are echoing the cries of Christians through the centuries. To join in on those prayers is a privilege.

And so we pray.

3. Pastors know about prayer.

I am not a scholar; I don’t claim to be an expert on these difficult topics (that’s why I’m inviting my smart friends to come and do the talking!) That said, I am a pastor, so I should know something about prayer. So the goal of this podcast isn’t to pontificate, but rather to encourage weary Christians to pray during racial struggles; this podcast is not so much about finding solutions to racial strife, though we will pray for as much, as it is about recognizing the difficulty in finding those solutions and taking that difficulty before God almighty. We’ll have brief conversations on the podcast between one another, conversations horizontally if you will, but the most important conversation taking place will be the vertical conversation.

And so we pray.

4. Christians agree on prayer.  

Christians do not agree on how to respond to racial strife, but all Christians agree that we ought to rely upon God in prayer. Prayer humbles us and re-centers us. Prayer inspires hope, something in high demand these days, and ought to give us a holy excitement that God will do “more than we ask, think, or imagine” (Eph. 3:20-21). The reality that ought to stupefy us with gladness in prayer and make us zealous to pray is that God is more eager to give than we are to receive. We potentially have the entire freight of heaven behind our efforts if we would but ask.

And so we pray.

My Hope for the Podcast

So I started this podcast with the hope that it would encourage people to continue to rely upon God in prayer during racial struggles. My hope is that Christians would leave edified, challenged, and encouraged to pray for unity in their own churches and the Spirit of unity would better permeate their whole lives. So, if a Christian listens and is encouraged to more faithfully pray for their own congregation, I’m a happy man. My hope is that you would not only listen to the podcast, but that you’d pray with us, because it’s clear that we need God’s help.

Details & How You Can Help

Expect new episodes every other Wednesday. You can subscribe to the podcast, visit our website for more information, and follow us on twitter. You can help us by leaving a review on iTunes (every bit helps!), sharing the podcast with a friend, or contacting us via the website to let us know what topics we might consider praying for.

The unity of the church across ethnic lines is in question now in the minds of many brothers and sisters, but a day is coming when we’ll never question it again. Until that day, will you pray with us?

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Get Perspective

This is the third installment in a series of blogs meant to push us toward leaning into the Holy Spirit and engaging areas of tension.

Check out the first two posts here:

In my first post on this subject I said that tension was built in to us by being uniquely created by God to live in relationship with each other.  Each of us having our own gifts, talents, and skills – along with our individual backgrounds and stories – means we all have different, but valuable, perspectives and insights.

Look at what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7; 12-13 (ESV):

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Here’s the point, we together are being made into the body of Christ. Not one of us alone has all it takes to display Christ in ourselves to the world around us. No, Christ is best revealed through us to the world as we relate to one another, value one another, and work with one another for the “common good.” It takes each one of us to make the whole body.

We need each other and not just so that we can make use of the skills that each person brings to the table. Paul exhorts the Philippians to “strive side-by-side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:28 ESV). We need to continually convince one another of the truth that God is for us and not against us, and His ways are better than ours.

Our perspectives are all different. We come from different places. We have carried different burdens – some that we tend to keep trying to carry alone instead of laying them at the cross of Christ. And it is with our varied perspectives that we can help each other see the gospel in new light where we have been blind. We must strive together to bring the gospel to bear in our actual lives and in how we live in this world together.

As we believe that God’s ways can be trusted and that He is for us, we can be obedient to pursue true community with one another. The tension will come. We are bound to rub each other wrong as we continually fight to put away ourselves and learn to love the way that God loves. This is The Hidden Battle that Reggie expanded on in his previous post. As we lean into the tensions of community our own idols will be surfaced, and we need to be able to speak the gospel over ourselves and each other. I truly believe that as we obediently practice community like this we will be led to increasingly submit all of life to the empowering presence and Lordship of Jesus Christ individually and as a church.  

So, perhaps we have talked enough about how good it is to lean into tension, although there is much more to be said for sure. Over the next several weeks we will be using this series as a place to practice listening in on the perspectives of others.

We have to do the work of listening first.

Francis Schaeffer was once asked how he would spend an hour if it was all the time he had to share the gospel with somebody. He responded that he would listen for 55 minutes and then, with the remaining 5 minutes, say something meaningful.

It is important to listen to people whose experiences are different than our own. I want to challenge us to listen intentionally as people share over the next several posts. If what you hear offends you, be careful to test the tension and lean into it by doing the heart work that Reggie challenged us with and by pushing to listen for the heart of the person who is sharing. My prayer is that these posts will be used to bring the gospel to bear in our own lives and allow us to learn where and how the gospel needs to be proclaimed in our community.

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The Hidden Battle

In his last blog post dealing with tension, Ben stated the following: “The idea shouldn’t be to make the tension disappear but to learn how to harness its generated power and aim it together instead of at each other. The only way that happens is if we keep our eyes on Jesus, submit ourselves to the Spirit, and strive together towards making Jesus known; that’s what we were made for.”

As I thought about what Ben was calling us to think through, I was reminded of the age-old adage that the absence of conflict doesn’t necessarily equate to the presence of peace.  Our goal when tension and conflict are present should not be to simply make it all disappear; rather, we should be willing to work through it together to bring about true Biblical peace and unity.  

With that said, I think that I often look at conflict as something that happens on the outside.  I think of conflict as an entity that someone else brings to the table.  My typical response when I’m angry, irritated or frustrated is to explain those things by looking outside of myself.  My response is usually to justify my anger by pointing somewhere other than to myself.  Could it really be possible that I play a role in the tension around me?  

James 4:1-3 states the following:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (ESV)

In this passage, James rips away the curtains on our hearts and purposefully reminds us that conflict and tension are actually spiritual issues.  They are issues that are directly connected to our hearts and to our desires.  More directly put, conflict and tension often result from who or what rules our hearts in place of Jesus.  There is a battle for control of our hearts that is fought in every situation and relationship in our lives.  To better deal with conflict and tension, we must understand what role our hearts play in these situations.

According to Romans 1, my heart will either be ruled by Jesus or by some created entity (an idol).  When my heart longs for anything other than Jesus, I will undoubtedly experience regular conflicts with others.  I will love you to the end if you’re helping me get what I want, but you will just be an obstacle for me to overcome if you stand in my way.  When my heart is ruled by my own desires, I’m judging you and holding you accountable to my standards and your ability to deliver the desires of my heart.  

When my heart is ruled by Jesus, I fully understand the wickedness of my own heart and the immeasurable grace extended to me by Jesus.  People who understand their own need for grace are really the only ones capable of extending it to others.  When I find myself to be frustrated with those around me, when I sense tension and conflict from the outside in, or when I become aggravated at the experiences and viewpoints of others, I need to look inward at the desires of my heart and see if they properly align with the truths of the Gospel and the reality of grace offered to me through Jesus.  

Consider this  quote from Paul David Tripp that can be found on his website:

“You see, God’s grace is not just a past grace–the grace of your salvation; God’s grace is not just a future grace–the grace of eternity. God’s grace is a present grace–it’s a grace for what you face in the struggles of life in a fallen world, right here, right now. And what this means is–you don’t have to live controlled by conflict any longer; your relationships can change; reconciliation is possible; peace is possible! Why? Not because of your strength and wisdom, but because the God of grace has given you grace that is form-fit for just what you are going through in your relationships today, right here, right now.”

In Matthew 7:3-5, Jesus says the following:

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (ESV)

As we face conflict and tension that we think is coming from external places, Jesus’ words here should push us towards examining our own hearts to see what idols or desires or anything else are actually taking the place of Jesus.  The problem may actually be internal to our hearts rather than external with the people around us.  I pray that we will surrender the desires of our hearts to Jesus before we are quick to lash out at others.

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Lean Into the Tension

I was at a conference a couple of years ago where the speaker, Reggie Joiner, gave out rubber bands to everybody in attendance. When he stepped on stage he instructed the audience to the throw the rubber bands at each other. There was plenty of laughter as rubber bands flopped against shoulders around the arena. He then instructed us to shoot the rubber band at the person seated next to us. Of course, he quickly took that instruction back before somebody got hurt. As Joiner moved on with his message, which was very good, this object lesson stuck with me. It illustrated well that where there is tension there is power.

Obviously, the power that is generated from places of tension can have, and has had, horrific effects on the people of the world. Wars break out because of tension. Bombs are dropped. Men and women kill each other, and children are orphaned and murdered. Eventually one side forces the other into submission, but nobody ever really wins. We all lose when tension leads to violent demonstrations of power.

It’s hard to stomach thoughts about the realities and effects of war. Unfortunately, it’s often easier than admitting that I am guilty of allowing personal tensions and frustrations with others – even my family and friends – to be unleashed in disgusting demonstrations of my own power as I put myself first above all else. I’ve hurt the people I say that I love on purpose. I have intentionally aimed to make others feel worthless compared to me. You have done it too. All that is left in the wake, when all of our power has been exerted and spent, is perpetual division, conflict, and brokenness.

Reggie Horne, in his message entitled Faith where he references the language of Fredrick Douglas, says “when we focus our faith on anything other than Jesus, we end up with a faith that leads to failure and defeat; a faith that will crush our souls and darken our minds.”

Here’s the thing, I’m not sure that we should make it our goal to just relieve tensions and lay down our rubber bands. I believe we were made for tension by being created by God to be unique and relational at the same time. You have your own gifts, talents, and skills, and we each have our own backgrounds and stories that give us different, but valuable, perspectives and insights. The idea shouldn’t be to make the tension disappear but to learn how to harness its generated power and aim it together instead of at each other. The only way that happens is if we keep our eyes on Jesus, submit ourselves to the Spirit, and strive together towards making Jesus known; that’s what we were made for.

A few months ago Chip and Joanna Gaines, from the HGTV show Fixer Upper, received some negative press because of their countercultural beliefs regarding homosexuality. They let the dust settle a bit before Chip published a blog post responding to the tension that had arisen. Here is a quote from Chip’s post that I found encouraging:

“If your position only extends love to the people who agree with you, we want to respectfully challenge that position. We propose operating with a love so real and true that you are willing to roll up your sleeves and work alongside the very people that are most unlike you. Fear dissolves in close proximity. Our stereotypes and vain imaginations fall away when we labor side by side” (emphasis added).

 

He is picking up on the language that Paul uses in Philippians 1:27-28; “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,  and not frightened in anything by your opponents.”

Church, our culture desperately needs the unifying power of Jesus. If we are going to take the gospel to them then we first need to see that we were created, and have been called, to work together to make Jesus known. Paul gives us a good place to start in Philippians 2:3-4 on; “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Something big happens when we lean into each other for the sake of the gospel. Consider the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 or Paul confronting Peter in Galatians 2. There are many places where tensions rose in the New Testament church, but as they looked to Jesus and pressed in by the Spirit, the gospel advanced to the nations.

What would happen today if we humbly looked to Jesus and leaned into the tension together in our homes, in our DNA’s and missional communities, and in our church?

Over the next few weeks we will talk more about handling our tensions and conflicts, the importance of listening to the perspectives of others, and how to strategically aim our rubber bands together to proclaim the gospel loudly.

For today, may we pray and find resolve to lean in together and to be found “striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”